Harsh Israel critic Ilan Halevi dies in France after '69 years of dedication to Palestinian cause'

Elior Levy, AFP|Published: 07.10.13 , 22:15

Jewish-Palestinian intellectual Ilan Halevi, who served as an advisor to deceased Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat,
died on Wednesday in a hospital near Paris, said Hael Al-Fahoum, the head of the Palestinian mission in France.

The mission said Halevi's death ended "69 years of self-dedication to the Palestinian issue" and described him as a "prominent intellectual, talented author and senior journalist."

Halevi, who suffered from diabetes and heart problems, was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago.

Halevi was born in 1943 to a Jewish
family in Lyon. In the late 1960s he joined the Palestinian Fatah movement and was a prominent member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Halevi was the PLO's representative in Europe
and to the Socialist International, and served as PLO vice minister of Foreign Affairs. He participated in that capacity in the Madrid Conference of 1991. Halevi was also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and served as an advisor to then-Fatah leader Arafat.

Halevi published a number of books about Israel and the Palestinian issue in which he leveled harsh criticism against the Jewish state and Zionism.

"He was 100% Jewish and 100% Palestinian," Al-Fahoum said, adding that Halevi was one of Arafat's closest advisors and remained active almost until his death.

Al-Fahoum lauded Halevi's criticism of the Zionist ideology over the years.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his condolences in a statement released by the Palestinian News Agency WAFA.